Chapter 3: Death

Sakura P.O.V.

Ino's screams faded away into silence. It was cold and dark. Like a void filled with nothingness.

I felt a sense of déjà vu. Once again I was surrounded by the thing I feared most. I was alone. Perhaps this sort of setting was a curse for someone like me? Death and darkness followed the life of a shinobi, so I suppose it was.

Is this where shinobi are sent when they die? This void of darkness was to be where I live out the after-life?

What have I done to deserve this? I've done nothing but help people, and dedicate my life to saving them.

You've killed people. You've murdered them in cold blood.

No matter how many lives you've saved, you've taken just as many.

No.

That's not fair.

I was protecting my village.

I was doing everything I could to protect the village. It's always been about the village.

Always.

Shinobi do not understand what they do to the world. If a shinobi does all he can to protect his own village, he will unintentionally inflict damage on another. He will hurt the innocent and the guilty to protect the one thing he dedicates his life too.

It's not fair.

A ninja's life isn't meant to be fair.

IT SHOULDN'T MATTER.

Then what will you do to change that? Death has consumed you. Your own village slaughtered you. What can you do now?

I can fight it! I won't die! I need to protect everything I've lived for!

Suddenly the void filled with a bright light consuming the darkness and erasing all that had happened.

I awoke with a start. Well not as much as a start, but with uncontrollable breathing and the urge to puke my guts out, which I then did. What the hell was that disgusting smell?

I looked around myself and nearly retched again. I remember now… the pile of the prisoners remains, but there was something different about them. They were all burnt to char.

I got up as quickly as I could to get away from the stench of burnt flesh. What the hell was going on?

My breath quickened as I began to hyperventilate. I reached a hand up to my neck to confirm my situation. A thick scar was all that was left of the wound that had… killed me?

It suddenly hit me. I had died, but I barely remember a thing. It felt like a hazy dream.

I brought my hand away from my neck, with it, flakes of dried blood. So it really happened. Yet I survived when they burnt the corpses? How? How did this happen?

I looked around and saw the area deserted. It was night time and the moon was high. How long had I been dead?

'Sakura?'

A feeling of relief washed over me. I was not alone. "Inner! I am glad to hear your voice. Do you know what happened?"

'No clue Baka-chan.'

Hmmm. Whatever happened apparently affected Inner also. Wait, what am I saying? She's just a voice in my head, nothing affected her!

'Whatever you say, just remember the voice in your head has feelings too.'

I sighed loudly. What do I do now? My feet eventually started making their way towards the streets of the village, before doing so I cast a henge. If I was believed dead then I should not go walking around as Sakura Haruno. Instead an old civilian lady should do it.

This elderly civilian made her way through the streets of Konoha to her apartment, and went through the bedroom window.

I released the henge and headed straight for the bathroom, stripped off my rags that were considered clothes and turned on the shower. The warm water felt refreshing after nearly three weeks in prison then being executed. But what would I do now? How would I live if I was technically dead?

I sighed once again.

'You could leave the village. Try to find the resistance group Sai mentioned?'

"But I have no idea where they are. He didn't even say which direction they were." I mumbled quietly.

Looks like leaving the village would be the safest option.

I'd have to try and track down the resistance, which I imagine would be impossible. If Danzo can't find them, how could I?

Finished cleaning myself, I turned off the water and stepped out, wrapping a towel around my bruised and beaten body. I walked to the mirror above my basin.

I really do look like shit.

Dark circles surrounded my green, soulless eyes and my face and body were thin with deprived hunger. After being deprived of decent food for so long I somehow wasn't hungry. How odd. Instead of pondering on it, I tied my long pink hair into a pony tail and walked into my bedroom.

Throwing on a second pair of my usual clothes, I grabbed my backpack and began packing extra clothing, tools and weapons, and medical supplies. Once finished, I gathered my most important belongings and sealed them into a scroll, packing that as well. I gave a glance to my comfortable looking bed, but decided against sleeping, I for whatever reason was not tired. Quite the opposite, I felt filled with energy.

I jumped out my window and onto the closets rooftop, hidden by my black travelling cloak.

The patrolling ROOT shinobi were difficult to evade. It seems Sai was right that Danzo had enforced curfew within the village. Yet it was worse than that. There were just too many ninja patrolling for a simple curfew.

'Danzo is emphasising his control with man power. What a coward.'

I managed to make it through a change in shift near the village boundary, scarcely making it without notice.

I began running as fast as I could south-west. If the village was indeed completely corrupt, resistance would have headed to Konoha's closest ally. Sunagakure.

'Let's just hope Gaara knows something.'

"From what Tsunade use to tell me, Gaara and her kept in contact with monthly letters, each detailing the situation of their village, shinobi and supplies."

'Then we need to make it to Suna without hassle and as fast as possible. If Danzo is trying to keep the situation in Konoha contained then he probably sent patrols to keep an eye out for Leaf shinobi.'

If Inner was right, then Danzo's patrols would most likely be near the border of River and Leaf.

I channelled a large amount of chakra towards my feet and increased speed. I needed to hurry.

Gaara P.O.V. Three Days Later

Too much paper work.

That was the main problem for a Kage like me. Shouldn't there be other people to deal with this kind of thing? Of course not. I let out a loud sigh.

My brief moment of peace and quiet was interrupted by a quick knock on the office door.

"Enter," I responded in a dead voice.

The doors flew open as a man face full of purple paint barged in, my dear brother, Kankuro. "Gaara! Someone attempted to enter at the main gate. From what the guards relayed to me it was a young Leaf kunoichi who was badly injured. They've taken her to the hospital and she's in pretty bad shape. But there's one more thing…" he trailed off, avoiding my eyes for a second.

"What is it?"

"They think it could be Sakura Haruno."

Sorry I didnt have time to spell check! BUT NEW CHAPTER AFTER SO LONG! IM SORRY FORGIVE ME :3 R&R

~Sweet